A blog about gaming with miniatures... and history, SF, fantasy and more

Monday, 8 July 2013

Normandy trip – Day four – Bayeux and Radar Museum

The
group stopped in Bayeux for lunch and a tour of the museum of the Bayux
tapestries. During lunch Jan and I found a guide-book at the tourist
information centre, and found something called Musée Memorial de la Bataille de
Normandie.

Given
the choice of old cloth (Ok, they are interesting, and are war-related)
and D-Day, we chose the latter.

The
museum turned out to be very interesting, with a lot of gear and vehicles
inside, and a good movie also. Absolutely recommended if you happen to be in
the vicinity. Unfortunately there was a ban on photography inside the museum,
but there were some AFV:s outside that I hadn’t seen before on the trip.

Hetzer, one of the very few German AFV:s we
saw. In bad condition sadly enought.

American M10

And a Sherman, always Shermans….

A Churchill Crocodile, unfortunately missing its
armoured trailer. But still.

Next
stop: Musée du Radar.

This
relatively new museum shows the radar facility in Douvres-la-Délivandre and
gives a good overview of its history. Don’t miss the very good guide-book when
you buy your tickets.

Würzburg Riese radar. Very impressive.

On site in 1944 was
also a Wasserman radar, but it was destroyed in the fighting. Here is a diorama
of how it looked. One of six very nice dioramas in 1/87 scale showing different
wartime radars.

Bunker turned into a museum. This two-story
bunker was the nerve centre of the base, and was used as fighter command.

A diorama in 1/47 scale, showing the
construction of the bunker. Really nice.

The tracks on the Shermans are painted the same colour as the tanks. Me suspects a repaint. On the other hand, the churchill does not have it's tracks painted, and appears to be a spot-on match for Vallejo Russian Uniform.

Oh, and the MG in the bunker is a french Chaterrault M/29. So I wonder if it was used by the germans, it's quite possible that garrison troops used it. Interesting nevertheless.

My rating system

5 - A masterpiece. You have to read/see/visit.4 - Really good. Strongly recommended it if it is a subject of interest, and probably worth reading/seeing/visiting if not.3 – It’s OK. If it’s a subject you’re interested in, it’s probably worth reading/seeing/visiting. Otherwise you can probably skip it.2 - Well, not really... If it’s your subject you could possibly find something in it worth your while. Otherwise stay clear.1 - Stay clear. This is a waste of your time.